Yesterday we had to lose our dear kitty Fred to cancer. Yesterday our car window got busted out and car soaked in rain. Yesterday I learned I must have major-ish surgery (I’ll be fine). Yesterday a major project at work failed. I turned 40 a week ago… I do love my life. Sorry for venting and using language but unequivocally yesterday, Life: fuck you and kiss my fetid ass. I will not allow you to bring us down.

Look…severe weather in any form, in any location, is not fun after one day. But I’m tired of everyone foo-fooing me when I say that the Northwest gets severe weather as well.

The latest nor’ Easter, while impressively early this year I admit, reminds me of this …

The Northwest also has our weather demons…likely even worse than those vaunted nor’easters! ( but when do you ever hear about it?)

Cliff Mass, the pre-eminent weather guy of the region says….

“In general, the very strongest Northwest cyclones are stronger than the top Nor’easters, with our 1962 Columbus Day storm probably being the most powerful non-tropical coastal storm to hit the U.S. in a century. (Beware–those wily east coasters like to call their storms “Perfect” or “Storm of the Century” and get books and movies made about them. Don’t believe their propaganda–ours are bigger and more powerful).”

It’s only because we have been neglected, in the media and in federal budgets, that this is becoming apparent (something us natives have known for a long time!)

He continues…

“If a big midlatitude cyclone hits the Northwest this year we will have a magnificent view of the details using the new coastal radar. And if our models are wrong about intensity or position, the new radar will enable us to get out timely warnings in time to save property and lives. We have finally caught up to the east coast, where they have had radars looking offshore for decades.”

So what he is saying is just NOW, in 2011 (!!), are we able in the Northwest to scientifically prove that our weather is “worthy” of being bad and worthy of attention on a national scale. We finally got a weather radar for the coastal regions this year (where our weather comes from!)

Again, bad weather everywhere is no fun. Don’t get me wrong. But I wonder how many people have lost their lives in the Northwest because the rest of the country has thought that there are no problems up here other than rainy and cloudy days…

YAY BLUE ANGELS. It’s Seafair. I love this. Haters can just STFU for a weekend…I’m sorry their delicate constitutions are so offended because it’s the end of the world and its soooo loud and it lasts days and days and days and days….you live in a loud city! whatever!

So I finished work today and was waiting for Christopher to meet me at our local bar for some drinks….but what should be overheard in the cacophony of conversations?!

“I love Lefse”

Wow! So I searched for the obviously scandinavian-oriented culprit. Turns out it was this pair of ladies who would not give me the time of day when I tried to express my exuberance for said lefse as well.

I did like some features of IOS 4.x, but holy cow did it slow down my 3G. It became intolerable. 15 seconds to open the messages app (I timed it!) Another 5 seconds to start a new message. That’s an eternity.

So I downgraded my iPhone 3G to the 3.1 software version and viola! It’s like new again. And yes, I restored the phone, reset the thing, etc — tried all the tricks before the downgrade – no luck.

So if you haven’t upgraded — I suggest you don’t if you have a 3G! The 3Gs and, of course, the iPhone 4 will probably be OK.

The Seattle area gets a nice little sunny streak in early May, which make all the ex-pats go bananas that summer is here. Then it shuts down again with the last part of May and most of June being pretty cool with spats of rain all the time.

“Oh, this is so abnormal”

“Oh, this isn’t like other years”

Bull$hit. It is ALWAYS like this in Seattle spring. I’m tired of hearing about it — I thought I had posted about this previously on my blog to proove my point, but I’m making record now.

I need to remind everyone that summer around here does not start until exactly July 5th.

This just cries out to be ridiculed and made fun of as wide as possible. Seriously, this is a professional news organization in an area where aerospace is one of the top 2 industries.

Seriously, KOMO, you deserve all the raspberry you can get for this. It’s just sloppy and lazy. No excuses — you are NOT the average person who may not see the difference — you are in the business of ACCURACYand by god in the Seattle area you need to know your airplanes. Would a TV station in Detroit make a story with a caption about a Mustang yet have the picture be a F150 truck? Must I even explain this to you?!

Next you’ll show a screen shot of Apple Macintosh OS X in relation to a Microsoft Windows 7 story. Seriously, guys, this is that bad…and if you can’t see that — wow, I’m astonished and kind of embarrassed you are in my town. You guys are being THAT stupid. And you haven’t even corrected it after hours of people leaving comments on your own website!

While this is certainly an interesting point in a time line, it’s really only an electronic analogue to a diary. I’m sure many people have been keeping diaries for longer. Nonetheless I’m kinda tickled to meet this milestone. I started “blogging” before “blog” was even a noun or a verb; indeed before it was even a popular catchphrase. Indeed I had my first web page back in 1995 (See my “Deep Archive” link above)

That’s a lot of time and bandwidth (timewidth?) dedicated to my own banter. What have I accomplished in that time?

As it turns out quite a bit. I became a true adult (still out for some debate). I had a successful consulting company (official corporation even!) and then transferred clients/closed it after my clients became successful and got gobbled-up by other, bigger corps in what became the dot com bomb. I moved to California and back. I bought a house. Got cats. Sold a house. Bought a condo. Used five different types of blogging software. Stumbled into a great relationship. And generally observed what made me laugh and ranted upon the stuff that irritated.

As I look back at some of my entries it makes me smile and laugh a lot. Also I cringe a lot…was I THAT shrill, really? Or was I THAT stupid, really? But that’s the deliciousness of time and becoming older — the cumulative benefit of your experiences always makes you wiser and wiser.

So what will the next decade have in store? Who knows….That is what is fun, and worth living!

P.S.: I’m going to attempt to add these old entries to my database. So if you subscribe to the RSS feed you may see a slew of new entries. I’ll be careful to set the date in the posts properly, but I’m unsure if they will appear in the RSS feed because they are “new” entries as far as the database is concerned…

So I’m a partial slave to the Food Network. Can’t get enough of it. The recent win of Melissa D’Arabian as the Next Food Network Star was a major celebration for the household — much joy was had. We were routing for her. Then to find out that she and her family has moved from Texas to our very own Kirkland, WA! Well, some Eastside stalking may be in order. But I digress…. Anywhooo…

So her new show is titled “Ten Dollar Dinners With Melissa d’Arabian” Her whole thing is flavorful dinners for four people and 10 bucks. This is good. Flavor is good. Cheap is good. The Wiedmeier kitchen today was prepped to experiment with her “North African” episode for dinner. It includes some spicy meatballs, couscous and carrots altogether.

So, how did my $10 fare?

Not so much. It paid for the cumin ($5.28) and the olives ($3.24). You see, I didn’t have everything needed for the recipes at home. I’m pretty sure a lot of people are in a similar predicament. I have no clue as to how the ingredients, when counted in total, could ever equal less that $10 — even $20!

Now, don’t make me a hater — I still love Melissa and the show. My on/off plans for d’Arabian spottings on the Eastside are in full swing. I’m just dissapointed with the Food network to so flagrantly mis-title something. What new math are they using?

To wit: below is my recent shopping list with total. Even if you lay-off some of the ingredients which I think they assume you already have (Cumin??? Wine??? — they must think we’re all drunks….OK, well, I guess a good assumption) it’s still waaaaay over $10.

Dinner is in a few hours, so perhaps I’ll post the results and let you know if it was worth nearly four times the advertised deal…

I like TV. Quite a bit. I’ve been a cable or satellite user since nearly birth. It’s always given the clearest picture and tons of channels

But damn, cable and sat service is getting pricey! As I get older I’m finding I view TV less and watch movies and Internet videos more. Actual “TV” is only for live events and local news. And with KOMO and Dish Network feuding over some asinine reason (So KOMO got dropped from my sat feed) there is even less of a reason for me to partake in the whole package. The only reason I pay for cable/sat is because I thought that was the only way to get a clear signal….until know.

…Enter the digital TV switch into the proverbial picture….

So with the recent brew-ha-ha of the digital TV switch/delay/etc. I decided to just see what I could get and see what the fuss was about. Being at the top of Capitol Hill, I practically stare at the Seattle TV station broadcast antennas from my deck only 2 miles away. My plasma TV has both the old analog and new digital tuners built-in, as mandated several years ago. So having not used an antenna in decades I attached a simple 6 foot length of coax cable to my TV antenna input and had the TV search for channels…

Holy smokes!

It found them. Not only the new digital channels for all the main stations (ABC, NBC, CBS, WB, CW and some others), but it also found some of the old analog channels still broadcasting. This enabled me to do a complete side-by-side comparison.

Rarely am I impressed, but what I’m seeing on my HDTV on the digital channels (with a complete ghetto “cable” antenna nonetheless) is nothing short of amazing. I’m floored. Full HDTV and stereo surround sound on all major networks. The analog channel equivalents still come-in, but are that lovely snow-storm of interference we’ve all come to know and love, but now are glad to get rid of. It really is that spectacular. I’ve never seen reception and picture quality like this from OVER-THE-AIR broadcast in my life. The comparison is really that striking.

So now I mull some thoughts….If a 6-foot length of coax dangling from the back of my TV can get excellent DTV (and, might I add, *FREE*) reception, what could a modern little antenna pick-up? My mind is full of thoughts.

Could this be the end of a $100/month bill and the beginning of a post-modern rabbit ears revolution for me? It makes me giggle with glee.

So for all the hype it’s been given, if you live close to town, or have a good antenna, The DTV switch is totally worth it. Proven by a small, 10-minute experiment I never thought I’d do.

I always tell new friends up front I can get manically busy and that sometimes I tend to being a hermit when things pile-up. This is who I am. It won’t change. You can’t change me. Take me for what I am worth.

I do try hard to communicate and act as friendly as people desire. I continuously try to improve in this area, but facts are sometimes just the facts. I’ve spent a lot of my years self-obsessing over this behavior to the point of it being unhealthy and having some therapy about it (yes, proud to say it…the brain is just like any other thing, it sometimes needs maintenance, too) I’ve generally stopped that obsessing now. I know myself more and also know that I’m not acting in malice.

My good long-lasting friends and family know this well. And I love them. That is true friendship.

So when a recent new-ish friend of mine razzed me about being silent for so long and not RSVP-ing to a party this month I dutifully apologized and asked for forgiveness. I was looking forward to it actually. So the friend says OK after a few grumbles and then gives me the details of the party and says “looking forward to seeing you at the party!” This friend and I actually had a “routine” about my split personality that we joked about. My other personality even had a name. It was fun.

Then the next email arrives the next day.

It basically gave me the riot act for being such a bad friend and saying that the friend could not consciously continue the friendship and that I was being rude and disrespectful. That I must find time for them. Bullshit was called on me. I was un-invited to the party. We were done. Do not even respond back was the closer.

A “Well fuck you, too, I told you!” would have been a nice little cathartic missive to send back, but I didn’t. Instead, this is my response.

I am true to myself and honest with those who try to know me. I am deeply loyal and believe that finding out everyone’s idiosyncratic ways, and having patience with them, is one of life’s finer pleasures, and that this takes lots and lots of time to do. If my core values or attitudes that have been the same for decades are not compatible with yours, don’t expect me to massively change them in order to force something that you want. Continuous improvement, yes. Massive changes, no. You will only be discouraged.

Who am I? I’m Garrett. If you don’t like this forum post, or the opinions in it, I understand. That’s OK.